World Driving Championship concludes; Tetrick finishes third
March 1, 2015,from Harness Racing Australia
The World Driving Championship has been completed after the final heat was held at Tabcorp Park Menangle on Inter Dominion day. The Sunday afternoon (March 1) program consisted of ten races with seven of them being Gr. 1 events. The remaining three were run at Gr. 2 level including the final heat of the WDC.
France’s Tony Le Beller drove the favorite Our Hi Jinx and was expected to be involved in the battle for the early lead but with a lot of speed coming from horses drawn wider on the track he got shuffled back early. Heza Thrill, driven by Spain’s Guillermo Adrover, worked from the widest draw to find the front and led turning for home but after a strong tempo it was a horse racing just off the pace that proved too strong.
New Zealand’s Dexter Dunn brought Global View with a well timed run to win the race and it was no surprise considering the success that Dunn has had during the Championship. Global View broke the track record for 2400 meters, recording a mile rate of 1:53.4. Second was Heza Thrill and Guillermo Adrover, El Rama finished third with Norway’s Vidar Hop while Im Blue Double Dee was fourth with Pierre Vercruysse in the sulky.
It was a remarkable performance by Dexter Dunn. After five heats he was in ninth position but a strong performance at Wagga Wagga on Tuesday night saw him climb the leaderboard.
For all of the latest news and replays log onto https://Vimeo.com/channels/wdc15.
USA representative Tim Tetrick picked up a drive in the Gr. 1 Ladyship Mile and drove Laterron into third, placing behind the Mark Purdon trained Adore Me. Adore Me set a new Australasian mile record when she stopped the clock in 1:47.7 for the mile.
Tetrick finished second in the final event on the program as well.
Thank you to all of the drivers that competed in the World Driving Championship.
Here is the 2015 World Driving Championship completed point score:
|
Name |
WDC |
|
Dexter Dunn |
200 |
|
Tony Le Beller |
146 |
|
Tim Tetrick |
142 |
|
Mika Forss |
139 |
|
Jody Jamieson |
132 |
|
Knud Monster |
122 |
|
Chris Alford |
119 |
|
Pierre Vercryusse |
119 |
|
Guillermo Adrover |
101 |
|
Vidar Hop |
100 |
|
Peter McMullen |
Australia (travelling Reserve) |
- Tetrick wins World Driving Championships opener (Saturday, February 21, 2015)
Two heats of the World Driving Championps were conducted Saturday night at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
- Alford grabs lead after round two of World Driving Champions (Sunday, February 22, 2015)
The second leg of the World Driving Championship was hosted at Newcastle Harness Racing Club on Sunday evening with three heats.
- World Driving Championship competitors head to Wagga Wagga (Monday, February 23, 2015)
Today we arrived in Wagga Wagga which is the largest inland city in New South Wales with a population of about 70,000. The drive was about five hours in the bus, but with a couple of stops this stretched to about six hours.
- Dexter Dunn (NZ) takes lead in World Driving Championships; Tetrick second (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)
Seven heats of the harness racing World Driving Championship were run in the city of Wagga Wagga, situated 455 kilometres south of Sydney.
- Dunn extends his WDC lead with four heats to go (Wednesday, February 25, 2015)
Two of the international drivers struck gold, with Denmark’s Knud Monster and France’s Pierre Vercruysse recording their first wins in the 2015 Championship but the night will most be remembered for the dominance of New Zealand representative Dexter Dunn as he stretched his lead from 14 points to 39.
- Dunn takes insurmountable lead into final heat of WDC (Thursday, February 26, 2015)
The World Driving Championship headed to Penrith Thursday night (Feb. 26) for three heats. With just one heat now remaining, New Zealand’s Dexter Dunn cannot be beaten in the Championship. However, four drivers are still in contention for second place. Tony Le Beller, Tim Tetrick, Mika Forss and Jody Jamieson will battle it out to be the runner-up.